Everyday
by verfolgung
Summary: Konan was young when they first met, in age as well as experience with the harsh reality of her world - that everyday was a raging war. Ame Orphan Fic - Yahiko x Konan ***ON HIATUS***
1. Prologue

**Everyday by verfolgung**

**a Konan, Yahiko, & Nagato fic  
>Pairing: Yahiko &amp; Konan<br>**

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><p><strong>Note from author:<strong>

I would first like to note that I do not own Naruto. There we go..._Disclaimer_ finished.

Now, this story is a bit AU... Yahiko and Konan are a tad older than in the series, and when I finish this fic the next is where things become AU from the Naruto storyline. You may also notice that Yahiko and Konan at first seem a bit OOC - this fic was planned out to develop the characters' personalities and relationships so that they are as they are when we see them in the series. I want to go into detail on how Yahiko grew to be such a leader with his determined attitude around the time of Nagato, and what shaped Konan's extreme loyalty for both Yahiko and Nagato. Small things like that are what I find to be important in all fan fiction.

I hope you enjoy reading. Reviews are extremely appreciated. Really appreciate. Just give me a damn review and I'll be happy.

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><p><strong>PROLOGUE -<strong>

Amegakure, the Village Hidden in Rain, was a place populated by a multitude of people, shinobi and villagers alike. The village wasn't known for its skilled and powerful shinobi force like Konohagakure, nor was it a place shrouded in beauty and mystery like Takigakure. Amegakure was a village of war, a village that had certainly seen better days.

Some of its youngest residents hadn't even known of these better times. For Yahiko, life was simply about living through present. His face and signature orange hair were well known to the many merchants in Amegakure, always disappearing in a flash, often with stolen goods. Not much was known about the boy, other than the fact that he was a young orphan of the war, nomadic for the most part, and was constantly migrating to different districts of the market to find his stolen goods that he lived off of.

It was these details that Konan stored in her head. Daughter of one of the many poor merchants in Amegakure, she found her days divided between contributing to her family's sales and working on her origami techniques with whatever trash material she could get ahold of. The days were often repetitive, and Konan found herself desperate to seek a way to distract her thoughts from all the gossip that went on in the market district. The fire haired boy, as she came to know him, was her escape.

Over the years she had become quite good at studying Yahiko's patterns and could predict when he would start moving to her family's section of the market - providing a bit of entertainment as she studied how he cleverly fooled even the smartest (or at least they thought they were) of merchants. He thankfully never tried anything at her family's stand, but her parents were very disapproving when they caught her staring at the young thief.

It was in a particularly rough year for the small economy of Amegakure that she would actually meet him. He was around 10 - but was tall and strong looking for his age. If she didn't know better, she would have guess he was actually around 12 years old.

The wind howled, a sign of a possible storm approaching (although you could never tell in their village), and Konan could distinctly remember a large group of shinobi coming through their district of the market. Through the dark, gloomy colors of the nearby buildings and ever-damp clothing, she spotted the familiar flash of orange in the crowd. The sight caused her heart to beat rapidly in her chest. Locking her eyes on the fire haired boy, she focused hard not to lose him as he dashed through the crowd. Konan could have sworn he had become faster - if it was possible.

She watched as he casually slowed down to the stall next to her family's, carefully glancing at the bread that was neatly place in a wooden crate for display, and the occasional buyer. Just as he was about to reach for his prize, like he had 100s of times before, someone yelled out, pointing directly at Yahiko.

"You! You little rat, trying to steal from a good man like me!" a large, muscular man from behind the stand spat.

Yahiko grabbed the bread immediately, sprinting into the crowd. Konan had been sure he had gotten away, navigating with the precision he always displayed in his tasks. Her eyes widened however, when she saw a dark eyed shinobi with an unfamiliar forehead protector symbol part through the crowd, dragging along the young orange haired boy. Konan frowned, feeling strangely upset about the situation. She didn't know why, but seeing Yahiko's clever tricks and hard work being successful gave her a wave of optimism.

The shinobi stopped at the stand where the bread was stolen and forced Yahiko to return the bread emotionlessly. The merchant gave him a glare, nodding graciously to the quick-witted ninja who managed to capture the young thief.

"I don't care what you do to the kid. He's younger than he looks though, a warning should serve him well," he mumbled calmly and glanced at the very red and angry merchant.

Konan could visibly see the shinobi's grip loosen on the boy's shoulder. She swallowed as she saw his orange hair slip into the crowd, instantly reaching for her pocket, confirming that the contents were still in it. She quietly slipped away from the stand and nervously walked into the crowd, hoping her oddly colored blue hair wouldn't cause her to be noticed. Konan feared her parents would be upset if they knew she was sneaking off from her duties to go search for a criminal.

Concentrating and calculating, she scanned her surroundings for any sight of the boy, her eyes pleading for the familiar sight of the orange hair. Finally she saw him through the dense crowd of people, locking on and traveling his way at once.

Seconds later she felt herself slam into something. It wasn't a building, as the object wasn't cold or metal. It was warm, but a strong and solid structure. Glancing up, Konan realized it the fire haired boy himself that she had run into. In person he looked younger and a lot more innocent, but his lean, muscular figure suggested otherwise.

"Sorry," he grumbled, moving aside as she studied him. His voice was dark and heavy, as if all the problems of his day were weighed into his words.

"Hi," she mumbled quietly.

The boy paused for a moment, obviously wondering what she was doing talking to him. If this was an adult, he would have completely ignored it, but since she was his age... it was much different. This girl had experienced growing up in the same conditions he had. War.

Yahiko's analysis of the situation stopped as he noticed the girl reaching into her pocket and then offered its contents to him. It was bread, a smaller loaf than what he had earlier failed to steal (he noticed she must have eaten a bit of it), but it was still food.

"I'm Konan," she smiled weakly, not entirely understanding what she was doing, giving a gift to a thief.

The boy reached his hand to hers cautiously, as if she might change her mind and suddenly refuse him, "I'm Yahiko."

They hadn't spoken anymore than that, but Konan's intrigue with Yahiko had only grown in the seconds she spent in his presence. She wanted to sit down and perhaps even talk to him like two friends would, but she didn't. She had to wait several years for that.


	2. Damned at the Start

Note from author:

I would first like to note that I do not own Naruto. There we go...Disclaimer finished.

This chap is really short.

I hope you enjoy reading. Reviews are extremely appreciated. Really appreciate. Just give me a damn review and I'll be happy.

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><p><strong>PART I<strong>

**CHAPTER 1 - Damned at the Start**

Konan waited weeks to see Yahiko again, but weeks turned into months, and eventually months turned into years. She hadn't forgotten about the boy, but instead she had come to the point where seeing an orange flash of hair in the crowd didn't bring a sense of excitement.

Over the years Konan's family had been able to afford an upgrade to a small sized apartment, where she had begun to spend her mornings before heading off to the market district to work. Konan was now 13; in a war torn Amegakure this was an age that was granted the responsibilities of an adult, but still commonly lived with their parents.

Konan hurried down the stairs of the stairs of the apartment building, the metal flooring clanking as her feet made contact with it. As she breathed heavily she could smell the familiar scent of rust, something she had grown strangely fond of. The teen could never understand why all the buildings in an ever-rainy village were made of metal. Obviously the builders had some misunderstanding when it came to materials and what happened when they came in contact with rain and time.

Her thoughts broke off as she made contact with the very last step, her mind planning out her navigation to the market district. As she hurried through the well known streets and alleys she caught glimpses of conversations, all about a topic she knew too much about: the war.

For the past three years the leader of Amegakure, Hanzo of the Salamander, had been pushing back at the enemy villages violently. Because of this, most of the latest news were enemy attacks, and from what Konan understood, there was an alarming amount of recent ones that took place in the village itself. Konan never considered any of these to be much to worry about; the market district was essential to even the enemy ninja, as there were many exclusive materials and items sold in the many stands - and the merchants couldn't care less who they were selling their items to.

As Konan entered the familiar streets of the market, she felt a breeze on the back of her neck. She immediately regretted not bringing her parsol, knowing that a breeze in Amegakure meant that there would indeed be rain. Looking up at the sky, she reasoned - it wasn't cloudy, maybe she would get lucky.

Before Konan could think to make a final decision, there was a loud snap, and a sudden force of air and fire that knocked her onto her chest. She panicked immediately, closing her eyes and wincing as she felt a burst of fire above her head. There were several more loud snaps, and she could hear the breaking of objects against the metal building. The snaps stopped, her ringing ears suddenly registering the screams that could be heard around her.

As Konan tried to move she felt a large weight of something on her back. A small pain came from her arm, but other than that she realized she was unharmed. She was going to survive - if she could get out from under whatever was holding her body down. Just as Konan was supporting herself to get up, she felt the object - no, it was a person - get up from off of her. She rolled on her back, fearing who she may encounter when she finally laid eyes on this person.

It was Yahiko. She barely recognized him now, looking much older and matured, but his signature messy orange hair was still there.

"You're gonna be alright," he said softly, wiping a large amount of dust from his face. He calmly offered Konan his hand to help her stand up, which she took, her brain still wracked with the confusion of what just happened.

"Exploding tags, planted by ninja..." he mumbled as she stood, staring at the damage. Konan's eyes widened as she took in the scene around them. The crowd of people who had been walking through the street just moments before now had disappeared under the heaps of rubble which now littered the streets. She could recognize parts of the nearby buildings and merchant stands, shredded into pieces by the impact of the explosions. Small fires from the source of the tags burned, causing small clouds of smoke to form in the sky. The scene made her grow cold, and she desperately attempted to block out the moans for help that seemed to be coming from under the large piles of debris.

"We need to help them!" Konan gasped, beginning to move a sheet of rusted metal from a nearby pile. In the back of her head she heard several more snaps, the sound she had now registered to be the exploding tags.

Yahiko roughly grabbed her arm, tugging her from her self-induced mission, "We have to get out of here. There are more exploding tags going off around us."

Konans could almost feel the adrenaline pump through her veins as she analyzed the situation. Without thinking she went with him, her destination unknown.

Through the years when she watched Yahiko steal goods she always imagined herself running away to wherever he went, given the freedom she always wished she had. Konan just wished that the conditions for her reality would have been different - that they weren't running from their deaths.

Yahiko expertly avoided the the debris, navigating calmly and quickly throughout the village. He occasionally would look back at Konan, as if to confirm that she had actually chosen to follow him. Konan would remain emotionless as she followed closely, registering that he had glanced at her, but still not necessarily understanding what happened.

The two teens arrived at a building a few blocks away. Yahiko paused for a moment at the metal steps leading to the many apartments in the building.

"Are you OK?"

Konan shook her head as a no, "What just happened back there?"

Yahiko sucked in a deep breath of air, scanning the area around him nervously. He looked very hesitant to say anything, but did nonetheless, "There were ninja - they planted exploding tags and set them off. It's war."

"I know!" Konan yelled, coming out irritated. She was scared more than anything. "My family - they're back there. All those people!"

Yahiko remained calm, starting up the rusted metal stairs, "You were going to join them if we stayed back there."

"What do you mean 'join them'?"

"I mean get killed too."

By now Konan had begun following him, but then stopped. Yahiko sensed this, stopping as well and looking back at his female companion.

"Konan... That's your name, right?"

She nodded, brushing past him as she continued their ascent up the many floors of stairs.

"Konan, you didn't expect them to actually be alive after that kind of blast, did you?"

"Was I supposed to hope they were dead?" she snapped.

"No. But I'm sure it would be better than being dying and suffering from the attack."

Konan thought for a moment as she climbed the stairs, her body working on pure adrenaline from the incident earlier. She remained silent the rest of the walk, and was surprised when Yahiko didn't have them both stop at any one of the apartments. He instead led them to the roof, a huge, flat area with a small structure which acted like shelter from the rain. Konan could see a small makeshift campsite under the shelter, which she guessed was where Yahiko spent his nights.

Yahiko took a seat on one of the large pipes protruding from the building, facing Konan. She sat on the ground in response, tucking in her legs to her chest, wrapping her arms around them.

"Do you really think they all are dead?" Konan spoke after a few moments of silence.

Yahiko's eyes closed, and for a split second a pained expression crossed his face. "I can't tell you for sure, but the attack was really bad."

Konan felt liquid on her face and immediately went to wipe away the raindrops, realizing suddenly that it was actually tears. "Can we go back and check it out later?"

Yahiko's eyes snapped open, staring at Konan for a moment before replying, "I guess." he craned his neck to get a view of the surrounding area, studying the towers of smoke that most likely came from the exploding tags. "People will do anything during war," he mumbled.

"Even if it doesn't make sense."

"Nothing does."

They sat there, watching the smoke slowly die, and in some places suddenly appear. Konan eventually had come to terms with the reality of what had happened, and found the entire idea of it exhausting. It wasn't long before Yahiko offered her the sleeping roll under the shaded structure, he himself disappearing from the roof soon after Konan had closed her eyes.


	3. Lock All the Doors

Note from author:

I would first like to note that I do not own Naruto. There we go...Disclaimer finished.

Yeah, they may be a little ooc in here... BUT it is how they get to how they are in the series - so enjoy the character development shit.

I hope you enjoy reading. Reviews are extremely appreciated. Really appreciate. Just give me a damn review and I'll be happy.

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 2 - Lock All the Doors<strong>

The first thing Konan realized when she woke up was that the bed she was lying on was extremely hard. Her own bed wasn't the nicest or softest thing in the world, but there was a big difference between it and lying on metal under a blanket. Opening her eyes, she also noticed that it was a lot brighter than at her family's apartment, and the smells of something burning were also extremely eminent.

The events, few but major, flooded back into her memory as she sat up, running her fingers through her blue hair.

"You're up," a familiar voice stated. Konan nodded, thanking him quietly as he handed her a sack of something and a canteen. She opened the canteen first, quickly registering by its smell that the contents were not water, but some type of fruity mixture.

"It's peaches and water. Found it yesterday after you went to sleep." By 'found' Konan was pretty sure he meant stolen, but she wasn't going to argue on the terms in which he described his activities, instead she gratefully took a sip and then placed the canteen on the ground, picking up the sack. Yahiko sat across from her, leaning back on one of the nearby metal pipes, silently studying her actions as she fumbled with the sack's ties. After a few moments of fighting with them, Yahiko reached over and grabbed the sack from Konan, simply pulling on one end of the string to open it. He handed her the pouch, suddenly looking away.

"Chocolate?" He nodded, swiftly taking a piece for himself, "How did you get this? It's impossible to come by with the war."

"I found it," he shrugged, "It's doesn't have as much milk in it as it should, but it is pretty damn good to me."

Konan grinned at Yahiko, slowly chewing the bites in her hand. "So... what are we doing today?"

"Attacks are still going on, so it isn't safe to go back to where the explosion happened. I have to meet someone in about an hour. You can do whatever you want while I'm gone. I wouldn't advise going away from the roof though"

"I'm going with you. So I'll be fine."

Yahiko's eye brow raised, "Are you?"

"I'm not staying here alone all day."

"Why not? It's safe, you have a great view of any events around the village, and all the food and liquids you need."

"It's not that, Yahiko," she started quietly, "I just don't want to be alone."

"You were perfectly fine last night."

Konan's eyes narrowed and she began to get tense, "I hadn't known you left until just now. Plus this is different than being alone for you - I suddenly don't have anyone. I feel completely alone!"

Yahiko silently stood up, grabbing the canteen as he rose. He took a big sip before looking at Konan with a painful expression in his eyes, "I've _always_ been alone and on my own. Don't ever compare your situation to mine," a few seconds passed before he then sighed, "Let's get going..."

Konan frowned at her stupid remark, helping gather a few supplies before following Yahiko down the stairs of the building.

It took about 50 minutes of navigation through the village's back streets to get to their destination. These streets were where the poorest - even poorer than Konan's family - often walked and took residence in. The whole time she felt as if Yahiko and her were being carefully studied by the people who lurked in the shadows. Yahiko didn't seem to share this same fear, and calmly continued in his ever-confident and steady pace. His eyes never left the area in front of him.

They came upon a rusted, aging building that looked as if it would fall apart at any second. Yahiko opened up the door, the steel material almost coming off its hinges as he held it open for her, acknowledging her presence for the first time since they began their small journey to this important destination of Yahiko's.

To Konan's surprise, the inside of the building did not look nearly as bad as the outside. It was a warm, but dark pub. The building had a moderate crowd of people from sketchy looking figures, to professional looking businessmen. There was a strong smell of freshly baked bread in the room, for once entirely blocking out the rust that found itself covering up all of Konan's senses.

Yahiko led her to the far corner of the room, where he motioned for her to take a seat at a small round table.

"Stay here. Don't talk to anyone or do anything. I'll be back in a few." She had no chance to make a remark about his orders, as he had already walked away and into a back room.

Konan nervously waited for Yahiko to return, immediately feeling uncomfortable as soon as he left her sight. She was alone again - as alone as she suddenly felt after the blast, before she knew Yahiko had, for some reason, landed on her back.

She stole a few nervous glances at the figures around her, knowing that there were several pairs of eyes on her. Konan understood she was around that age where she was becoming attractive in the eyes of men, and she herself was an unusual and unique young woman herself, however, the eyes she felt were not those of admirers. They were those that almost made her feel dirty, knowing that they were looking at her with horrible intentions.

Konan grew uneasy, beginning to move around without meaning to do so. She felt as if this caused even more people to begin watching her. There was nothing she could do about it either - she was one girl in a pub full of grown adults.

Finally, she couldn't take it any longer, she stood up and walked to the door she saw Yahiko disappear behind. As she was about to open it, it opened up, a surprised Yahiko staring at her. His eyes narrowed suddenly.

"You didn't tell me about this, Yahiko," a man's rough voice grumbled. Konan's eyes met a man who was clearly some type of dangerous being. He wore a uniform, slightly muddy and worn, but it was clear to her that these were just marks of pride from past battles. The man had belt on which held more weapons than Konan could count with her fingers, and she didn't doubt that he had many more in the many pockets of his uniform.

Yahiko's words suddenly brought her out of he daze, "It's nothing."

He shook his head, his short brown hair showing as his hat moved around, "No, you see the deal we make is for one person. You've got another with you, that makes two people."

"I'll pay you for two next time."

"I'm afraid I can't have 'next times.' You see, I think you've been ripping me off with this two people thing for quite some time."

Konan looked to Yahiko and back at the man, confused as to what was going on. She felt herself get pushed down suddenly, not missing the soft zoom noise of a shuriken flying inches away from her head.

Yahiko grabbed her arm in her shocked state, tugging her effortlessly across the room and through the door. He then reached for her hand, taking it and running at full speed through the streets. He was no ninja, but he had a natural talent for running. Konan on the other hand was not such a decent runner. The only thing keeping her going was the major rush of adrenaline she got from the shuriken almost hitting her, and the pressing need to understand what was happening before she died.

The world around her flashed quickly with the colors of the many gloomy metal buildings around them. Konan felt her hand slowly become released from Yahiko's, and his greater speed was immediately apparent. It took a great effort to keep up a pace where he was still in her sight, and eventually it became a challenge to guess where he went and which way he was headed. All she had for clues were the quick flashes of orange that immediately disappeared, and each time the period in which they were visible grew shorter. She thought about stopping, or maybe even yelling to Yahiko for an explanation, but then decided against it. Although she could not hear anyone chasing after her and Yahiko, the man in the pub was indeed a ninja, and it was common knowledge that ninjas were extremely agile and silent, usually not hesitating to wait until their enemy was weakest - or least expecting it - to take them out.

As Konan rounded the next corner, she felt her lungs ache and legs begin to give out. The adrenaline from earlier had run low, and a sense of panic started to take its place. Yahiko, or any glimpse of him was no where in her sights, there was possibly a deadly ninja out for her, and she was alone - without anything or anyone.

It was around noon now, or so she thought when she was able to catch a glimpse of the sun's position in the sky. Rain slowly began to fall through the streets of the village, making Konan believe that the situation couldn't get any worse than it already was. She slowly made her way to a nearby building which had an outdoor metal staircase extending to the roof and the other floors of the building. Out of the entire street, it seemed to be the only place with an actual roof over it, protecting anyone climbing the stairs from getting wet. Konan noticed this and slowly proceeded up a couple floors, thinking that if she got a bit higher she might be able to see Yahiko somewhere in the streets.

The staircase shook violently as Konan approached what she thought was the 4th floor. She grasped the railing, holding on tightly as the force shook the entire stair-structure with ease. She found herself staring up to find the source of the movement, but all she could manage to see was a quick shadow before whatever it was ran up the staircase, causing the shaking to be even worse. Konan nervously took her hands off the rails, wiping them down on her pants to get the rust off before proceeding to slowly hurry up after the shadow.

If she was thinking about the situation rationally she probably would have run away, but the girl was thinking in any form but rationally. She was wet from the rain, tired, and confused: she was going to the top, whether the source of the shaking liked it or not.

Konan didn't seem to have any other issues the entire length of her small journey. Eventually the shaking stopped, and she just assumed it must have been a resident of the building who was in a hurry. The stairs stopped at the roof, which had a similar covering to the one that Yahiko had brought them both to the day before. Rustling could be heard behind one of the large pipes that ran across it, and she could feel her heart start to beat rapidly as she approached cautiously.

"Hello?" she yelled out bravely.

Suddenly the familiar orange flash shot up, Yahiko's face staring at her, "How did you find me?"

Konan's expression wasn't anything less of shocked. She hadn't expected to find Yahiko on the roof, and she certainly didn't expect to hear his statement. It was much different than the 'I'm glad you found me!' that she was hoping for. "Wait - what? Why did you split up with me?"

Yahiko gave her an annoyed scowl as he clenched the sack of items that lay across his shoulder, "I didn't."

"I think you did. One second we were running away together, the next you were running out of my sight with no explanation."

"You don't really deserve one at this point," he growled, looking away.

Konan's eyes narrowed and her expression darkened as his mood became apparent. She wasn't the best at reading faces or body language, and with Yahiko's moods and actions being new to her, she was fairing as well as a blind ninja.

"You're obviously upset. What happened? Was it something in the back room?"

Yahiko's head snapped in her direction as he gave her a wicked look, one that made her immediately look away at the rain pouring down around the roof structure they were under. "You don't get it, do you?"

Konan shook her head, quietly accepting Yahiko's blame.

"I was trying to lose you! This is all your fault!"

"What did I possibly do?"

"That guy back at the building, I was paying my share of what I owed him for not having the ninja of this village attack me every time I try and steal something. He saw you - and now he think I've been cheating him of his money."

"But he can't do that! He's a ninja - he is subject to follow the rules!"

Yahiko's jaw visibly clenched, "There are no rules to follow in war - it is all greed. Your life, mine, and everyone elses' is_ nothing_ to them."

"Who exactly are _they_?"

"They're the people who are supposed to be protecting us from the war - but they're just bringing it into the village and making things worse. They're the ninja."

"Rain Ninja?"

"Not just them. All of the ninja. If it weren't for the other ninja out there, we wouldn't have this war - even the 'enemy' is supposed to be protecting us to some extent by keeping the peace."

Konan sat down next to where he stood, bringing her legs to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, "Yahiko... I'm sorry."

The boy said nothing, and continued to look into the distance, observing the unique architecture of the village he knew as his only home. "I'm not safe here anymore in the village. Neither are you. I am going to have to leave it."

She quietly looked down, "I shouldn't have left the table in that pub. I just was nervous. There were so many people in there who looked like they would.. do horrible things."

"It's over with," Yahiko shrugged, "No use dwelling on it. I guess I should have acted like less of an ass," he mumbled.

A moment went by before Konan got the courage to speak up on something she had been thinking of. "I know we've only just met, and that we aren't exactly aren't in the best of situations... but I've thought about what you said earlier..."

Yahiko turned his head slightly, looking at her as she spoke quietly and calmly. "What?'

"That you have no one either."

"Oh."

She smiled, "I think we should give each other a chance, and be that 'some one' that watches out for each other. I know it is silly, and sudden... but I just think that -"

"I'm sorry too, Konan," Yahiko calmly interrupted, gazing at her before their eyes met for a split second. He smiled back at her, and Konan felt, for the first time in many long hours, she was not alone.


	4. You're Just Throwing Rocks

Note from author:

I would first like to note that I do not own Naruto. There we go...Disclaimer finished.

_THANKS for reviewing September Sky!_ This chapter is for you - you've reminded me to put it up ;)

**I hope you enjoy reading. Reviews are extremely appreciated. Really appreciate. Just give me a damn review and I'll be happy.**

* * *

><p>CHAPTER 3 - You're Just Throwing Rocks<p>

Konan awoke from a deep sleep as she felt something nudging her out of her slumber. Once again she had come to realize she was not in her own bed, but this time the events flooded into her mind immediately.

As she peered up, rolling back in order to see what nudged her, Konan found herself being watched by an eager looking Yahiko. He seemed expressionless on the outside, but from what little she was starting to know about the boy, she could tell he was anxious.

"Let's go - we've got to leave before their morning patrol begins."

"The village?"

"Yeah, if you want to survive. They won't look for us if we keep to the forest outskirts."

Konan nodded, getting to her feet and grabbing several items sprawled on the ground around her and putting them into a green bag. Yahiko handed her a small blue pack, similar to his. As she took it from him she noticed it contained some objects. Curiously, she opened the pack and began to quickly investigate its contents. Inside was some chocolate, some bread, an apple, paper, and a small pocketknife.

Feeling excited, she immediately went for the paper, the familiar instinct Konan always had taking over at once: feeling the paper's edges, the smoothness of the material, and the intricate creases she made.

"I remember you making things out of paper," Yahiko commented, watching her hands move and work the paper expertly.

As Konan finished, she examined her work, and then handed it to boy. It was a simple, but detailed paper crane. It was only a small and unimportant idea between them that really didn't matter on the big scale of things, but it was these little moments that made the situation they were in genuinely better. With the previous day's events and moments of mistrust, she was slowly building a new, more realistic friendship with Yahiko. The first step being a paper crane.

Slinging her pack behind her back and taking a deep breath in, they were suddenly on their way out of the village that they both knew as their only home.

The village was eerily empty in the early morning hours, Konan noticed. Her parents had always given her a strict curfew of the times in which were not acceptable to be outside at. 3:30 AM definitely was not one of those acceptable times. Her new life with Yahiko had no curfew though - the outdoors was the closest thing she would have to a home.

As the sun rose slightly higher over the horizon, Konan could start to see how close they were to leaving the village - not nearly as long as she would have originally guessed, but still a good 20 minutes away. They had been traveling through the village (which Konan wanted to call a city at this point) for around an hour, and if Yahiko had been accurate in his assumption, there would be no ninja patrolling the border. He was right - the border was completely clear of anyone guarding or protecting it, and the two teens easily began their journey into the lush forest of Amegakure.

It wasn't long before Yahiko stopped walking and turned to her, "Wait. I think I hear something. I might be a creek?"

"You think? Are you sure?" Konan questioned.

"No," he replied, sounding stressed.

Konan took a sip from the canteen of water at her hip, and after a couple moments she sighed, "We should keep going - maybe to another village or small town?"

Yahiko shook his head and began walking to the left of where they were originally going, "If there is a water source we can just set up a camp there. We won't be far from the village."

There was suddenly a crack in the trees around them, and Yahiko's eyes quickly scanned their surroundings. He could have swore he saw a shadow dart through the trees. "Actually, your idea is probably our best bet at this point." He took her hand and pull her into a running pace, the two of them fleeing from whatever could have caused such a sound and shadow in the trees; most likely not a squirrell.

It was a 30 minute sprint that began their journey. From what, they weren't exactly certain - but if it was indeed ninja from Rain they had very good reason to run. The first day went quickly for Konan, the silence between them making things a bit awkward, but also allowing her time to think without worrying about silly things that had plagued her mind the last two days. Things such as why the explosion occurred, and how she could have avoided it. If there was one thing she learned from Yahiko, it was that dwelling on the past was useless.

Instead she chose to think of about present. For instance, examining and breaking down her new friend - well, partner, Yahiko. Reading him was like reading a picture book with just the pictures: you understood what was going on, but the true, deep meaning was not revealed.

She found herself noticing that his hard, guarded exterior was just that: an exterior. He showed glimpses of his true personality on the inside in his eyes. She couldn't exactly explain it, but when he spoke to her and would look at her, there was a sense of warmth and comfort. Konan also noticed that he was optimistic about a lot of things, but seemed reluctant to express it. As if he may get disciplined when trying to look at things on the bright side.

She could only hope that maybe he would trust her enough to actually express some of these emotions.

Before they both realized it, the sky was dark and they had stopped in a clearing to set up a small campsite. Yahiko began trying to make a friction fire, while Konan cleared some rocks and sticks from the area around the fire.

"Won't the fire signal to others that we're here?" Konan questioned as she set some dry brush by the fire Yahiko was attempting to ignite.

He shook his head, "I've seen these woods at night from the village - there are tons of camps that have fires here. If they took the time to search every single one then they would be wasting their time. Plus they won't come out here at night."

Konan nodded. She watched as Yahiko grinned wildly as he saw a small bit of smoke coming from where the two branches met. He quickly took some of the dry brush she had gathered in one hand, and began blowing on the small ember.

"Have you done that before?"

"Once or twice. You can't really ever start a fire for long in Amegakure though. Everything is so wet."

She sat next to him, her arms hugging her legs to her chest, "Can I ask you something?"

Yahiko shrugged, glancing at her for a moment, "I guess it matters what it is."

"What happened to your family?"

He gave Konan an odd look, and then spoke in a confused tone, "Why do you care?"

"I'm sorry - I just mean - I'm not sure why I care. I just was curious."

"It's OK," he spoke, sounding to Konan's surprise, relaxed. "I guess if we're going to be friends then telling you won't hurt.

"It was a long time ago - I was very little when everything began. Probably 5 or 6. I don't remember my parents much other than my mom had blonde hair and my dad had orange hair. I also recall him being a soldier for Amegakure, fighting in the previous war when it first began. He was sent out one day on a mission, said his goodbyes, and I never saw him again.

"I ended up having to find a way to support my mother and I. In the end I found that i had a wonderful hobby of stealing things. When the ninja who were supposed to protect the merchants from thieves like me found out, they cornered me and gave me a lesson on how things worked. I was told that I would have to fuel corruption and pay them in order to keep myself safe and not be the target of any of them.

"Eventually there was a mix up in their information and I came home to find my mother dead, a note stating that they wanted their money, and this was a prime example of what could happen to me."

She didn't gasp or reach out to comfort her new friend as he told his story. That wouldn't have been like her, and Konan could tell he was over the loss of his parents. From her view something like that could bring back bad memories; ones that she was currently experiencing. "That's why they were so quick to attack?"

"Yeah, because word is, I have cheated them in the past. They don't give second warnings - usually not even first warnings."

He shifted uncomfortably, stretching his legs out in front of him as he felt the fire.

"I didn't have time to get you something to sleep on, and I left mine on top of the building two nights ago. We'll have to make due with what we have for now. When we hit the first town with a market, which I'm pretty sure we'll find tomorrow, we'll get some supplies."

"Thanks, Yahiko," Konan mumbled, scooting closer to the fire as her body grew colder.

"For what?"

"Y'know. Everything."

He grinned, throwing a few sticks and dry piles of grass in the burning embers in front of him, "I guess I owe you. Remember? A few years ago with the bread?"

"Yeah. That was the craziest thing I did that year - I'd never forget that."

"Well, I promise you I'll get some for you tomorrow - that way we'll be even."

Konan rolled her eyes and smiled, "I think that sounds good - although you've repaid me well enough."

"If I didn't help you at all I would be a bad person. Well, worse than I already am."

"You're not a bad person, Yahiko."

"Says the person who has only known me for a couple days," he joked, looking down. Konan could see his face turned up into a smile, the fire's flicker of light illuminating it better as the sky got darker.

"Well, I guess I'm going to try and sleep. Are you going to put out the fire overnight?"

"No, the smoke keeps the bugs away. There are some nasty ones out here that I am not willing to take my chances with."

Konan was going to ask how he knew so much about the area outside of Amegakure if he lived in it all his life, but then stopped herself. He never did say he lived in the village his whole life - he was thief, a nomad. Chances are he had travelled outside of the the rusty skyscrapers and into the forest before. It would make sense if that was where he had been for the time between when they first really met, and when the explosion happened.

She took a spot by the fire where the grass was somewhat soft, and curled up. Konan closed her eyes, feeling more exhausted than she realized she was. Before she knew it, she drifted off into sleep.

Yahiko had truly never been in a situation like this. He was always on his own, being independent and never thinking twice about the people around him. As a thief, the only rule was to never trust anyone - never hold anything dear to you. He certainly learned that after the death of his mother.

He was now in a strange situation, where his heart wanted something or someone to be there for him, but his mind told him otherwise - that it would get ripped away from him, betray him, and break him like before.

Yahiko hated himself for his mother's death, and did everything he could to avoid the subject. He didn't understand why it had felt so alright to tell Konan about it though. He truthfully had never actually told anyone else about it. Konan, it seemed, was was different than all the other people around him whom he felt obligated to shield himself from. Yahiko didn't know why. Perhaps it was because of their similar experiences?

o0o

It was their second day of being on the run, the previous night being the one that started all these strange questions for him. Their journey was filled with small bits of conversation, something that he felt was out of character for himself. It seemed since he had told himself and her that they would be traveling together - and perhaps even become friends - that he unintentionally would start chatting. During these chats he didn't think twice about admitting things about himself openly, and he often shared more emotion in several minutes than he had in several months.

"So... how about weather? What is your favorite type of weather?" she asked as they walked. They were getting quite close to the nearest village in which Yahiko believed had a market. Every once in a while they would even see a few travelers walk by them, heading away from the village. The two teens would be on the recieving end of some odd looks (they were very young to be travelling alone), but with the war going on no assumption could be false.

"I grew up in Rain, but I really do like the sun the best," Yahiko answered, "I've heard in some places - like the Land of Fire - there is so much constant sun that people have to wear something called 'sun screen' in order to keep their skin from burning."

"Really? I've always loved the smell after it rains - but I would be more than willing to check out this place where the sun is always shining."

"Let's see... what is your favorite color, Konan?" it was a very simple and meaningless question, but Yahiko seemed to say it in a way which gave it an extreme importance.

"Blue. It's pretty easy to tell why. What about you?"

"I like blue too," he smiled, wondering why for a moment he was being so open, "Maybe I should try it out as my hair color?"

"No, somehow I think that it would take away the effect when you zip by really fast like a shinobi."

"So I can't be a blue ninja?"

Konan laughed, "Sure you can - but orange makes more of a statement."

"I think we're here," Yahiko said as they entered the small village. He felt a little - awkward wasn't the word - _strange _about the previous conversation and was a little glad to change the subject. It was a modernly constructed village which seemed ridiculously busy for being of the beaten path by a couple miles.

Yahiko motioned for Konan to follow him behind a building where they would both be concealed from anyone in the area.

"I'm assuming you know what we're doing here, right?"

"Going shopping?"

"Sort of..." Konan looked confused, "We're going shopping without the money."

"Yahiko! We can't steal from people!"

"Where the hell do you think I've gotten everything in your bag? Charity?"

"No, but can we at least not steal things from them? They probably don't have a lot of money with all the war rations!"

Yahiko gave her a hopeful look, placing a hand on her shoulder. He was visibly nervous about the gesture, not being used to it. "If you want to travel with me you have to do your part. That's all I am going to ask."

Konan stared at him for a moment as she seemed to think about his words. It was stealing or living alone in a war torn world - the answer became quite obvious, "OK, let's go."

Yahiko's features immediately brightened, "Alright, first watch me and then you can try." He treated it much like a sport - or a game. Yahiko did his best to drown out all the thoughts and points in his head that he was affecting others in a negative way when he did his "shopping".

Yahiko strolled casually into the crowd, watching as Konan discreetly moved to a spot where she could see him work. He spotted a busy stand occupied by a large, unattractive woman. He patiently waited until the opportune moment, when she was talking with a customer to walk over, and pretend to study the fruit and other food being sold there. Yahiko quietly slipped his hand around an apple and then calmly walked away and back to where Konan was.

Once by her, he tossed the her the apple. "Did you see all of that?"

Konan nodded, taking a bite of the apple. Yahiko could only imagine how hungry she could possibly be - most of their food supplies was gone already (they hadn't had much in the first place) - she hadn't eaten all day.

"The trick is to remain calm and pretend you're really buying something. You can't give away that you're nervous or excited or anything like that - you need to wait for the right moment, grab whatever it is you want. Stupid things like that blow your cover."

"I think I can do that. Any specific stand in mind?" Konan asked.

"We need more food - how about a place with bread?"

"OK, I'll try that," she told him, hesitating as she began to walk into the crowd of people, "What if I get caught?"

"Don't worry about that - If you do I'll can come and get you," Yahiko assured her.

For the next five minutes he watched as Konan copied his previous example, waiting for when the merchant running the stand was busy, grabbing the bread, and bringing it back to Yahiko.

"That went well. I think we can split up now if we want... you can get food and I'll grab some supplies."

Konan was visibly nervous about splitting up and being away from Yahiko. She didn't want to be alone again, but she supposed she should at least get used to being on her own for these little things. "Should we meet here? And when?"

"In about an hour we can meet on the edge of town - where we came in from. If one of us is not there, we'll set up a camp on the outskirts - in the woods - and then hopefully we'll figure out what happened to the other over time."

Yahiko and Konan then parted with a simple nod, feeling like something bad was about to happen.


	5. Say it Doesn't Hurt

Note from author:

I would first like to note that I do not own Naruto. There we go...Disclaimer finished.

Originally was two chapters, but nothing really got done in the first so I combined them both... yay for a 4k chapter...

I'd appreciate a review if you have the time.

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 4 - Say it Doesn't Hurt<br>**

Konan sat on a rock by the path on the edge of the small village that Yahiko and she were silently raiding with a small piece of paper in hand, folding it to make different animals and objects they had seen in the past few days. It had been over one hour since they split up, agreeing to meet at the spot she presently was at after an hour.

Her heart pounded in her chest, her throat growing dry, and her mind growing wild thinking of all the terrible things that could possibly have caused Yahiko's delay. Konan hadn't lost hope though. She was confident in Yahiko's skills and abilities when it came to "shopping" - after all, he had been surviving on it for years before she had come in the picture. He knew was he was doing - he would get out of any mess he got himself into with ease.

These assuring thoughts did not help Konan. Yahiko's safety and well-being concerned her greatly, and it was then she realized that he was someone she cared enough to consider a friend. Konan had never had any friends in her life, and the sensation that overwhelmed her when she though about the one person she could trust and feel comfortable around was something new, fictional, and purely amazing.

"Konan!" she heard a loud yell. Her head turned in the direction of the sound, the first thing she noticed being the signature mop of orange hair that could only belong to Yahiko. The next detail, and the most important, was that he was being chased by a young ninja - most likely a Genin - who was having a surprisingly difficult time keeping up with him.

With the sudden alarm, she jumped off the rock, running as Yahiko sped up next to her. Konan looked back at the Genin for a split second before noticing that the wild eyed Genin was holding some small throwing stars in his hand. The last thing they needed was to be injured and on the run. If there was one thing that attracted high ranking shinobi, it was blood, and throwing starts tended to slice deep enough to make quite nasty stains in the grass and dirt.

Not being the most athletic and avid runner as both the Genin and Yahiko, Konan drifted back, close enough for the their pursuer to get a clear and precise shot where ever they pleased. Before she knew it, they had left the Genin's hand and sliced roughly into Konan's leg. The feeling of blood dripping down her low legs overwhelmed her, as well as the throwing stars that seemed to be lodged into her leg and moving and slicing deeper with every step.

Suddenly she couldn't seem to take it any longer, "Shit, Yahiko!" Konan cried out, her knees hitting the dirt.

Yahiko looked back to see Konan running awkwardly, blood showering down her leg from the painful looking throwing stars which still remained in the area in the back of her shin. Yahiko seemed to panic at once when he realized her condition, grabbing a tree branch from the ground next to him. He attempted to hit the Genin in the head, but it was no use - he was much to quick for an ordinary person like Yahiko to go into that kind of combat with. Gathering the very most of his luck and courage, Yahiko lowered the branch to the ground, down by his attacker's feet, and then swiped it to the side, tripping the surprised Genin.

From what Konan could see the Genin most likely hit a rock when he fell down, because he made no move to attack Yahiko or her again. He was out cold, or perhaps worse.

Yahiko was breathing heavily, his expression worried as he ran to where Konan had stopped running, "Are you OK? We need to get these wrapped up now."

The blue haired teen shook her head as she concentrated to hold her shaking legs still, "I'm fine - let's first find a place to set up camp tonight. If he wakes up..."

Yahiko figured there was no sense in arguing with her. If she did not want his medical assistance at the time, then it wasn't going to happen.

As Konan attempted to begin walking her legs remained shaky and painful to manage. Yahiko gave her a light smile as he threw is arm across her shoulders, allowing her to hold onto his body for support as they walked.

The two of them continued to walk like that for a small amount of time, not getting far, but a good enough distance away enough to stay away from the Genin who attacked them. Yahiko set up the camp with minor help from Konan (who had stopped bleeding, but was still in a lot of pain). They sat around the fire, their newly stolen sleeping roles and a dinner of fresh fish on its way.

"Can I fix your legs up now?" Yahiko asked anxiously, "We need to clean them or else you'll get an infection. We just don't have the medicine for that with the war going on."

Konan nodded, closing her eyes tight in pain as she moved into sitting a position where Yahiko could operate.

"This might hurt a lot," he warned, beginning the painful process of removing the shuriken. Yahiko carefully began to tug the star, it becoming less stuck as he slowly tugged it up a little more each time.

Konan would give a small cry every once in a while, her face twisted in a completely pained expression. Yahiko noticed, moving his hand which was not working on getting the throwing star out up to hers. "Squeeze my hand when it hurts. It might make it feel better. My mom used to make me do that whenever I was little and had an injury."

She nodded, silently taking his hand and grasping tightly.

Yahiko finally managed to get the first shuriken out, only one more remaining. The cut from the first was now starting to bleed, but Yahiko didn't seem to care. He quickly got to work on the next star, not taking nearly as long to pull it out. Although, according to Konan's squeezes and painful squeels, it was much more painful.

"I'm going to clean it out and then wrap it up," Yahiko told Konan as he set the second bloody star on the ground. Her leg was bleeding again, Yahiko's hands covered in her blood. He didn't seem to care though - he was very serious and silent about the matter that she was injured.

"Thanks," Konan whispered quietly, "How did he - that Genin - come to chasing you anyway?"

Yahiko began cleaning the wound with water from his flask and a clean piece of cloth which probably came from a shirt, "I was about to steal some shoes - mine are in terrible condition for traveling... and are also a bit small. He saw me as I was walking away without paying and decided it would be a great and heroic act to turn me in to his superiors."

"Nice... Owww," Konan complained as the cloth began to clean a particularly nasty part of the cut.

"Sorry," Yahiko apologized. He moved over to another less sensitive area of the cut, attempting to remove some dirt around the entrance.

"It's fine. I appreciate you caring enough to do that - I'd probably give myself more injuries if I took those out. I would do the same for you, not just because we're partners, but because you're my friend."

"I've never had friend, Konan," he smiled, "I think you're the first."

"Same here. At this point we've only know each other for a couple days, but I've got this crazy feeling like I don't know what I would do without you. You've saved my life twice now. I don't want to feel alone - it was a horrible feeling."

"I've living for a long time alone. I guess I've been so used to it that I didn't realize how much more... different it is to have someone else with you," Yahiko admitted. "Earlier, I just panicked that I would lose the one person who had ever given a crap about me."

Konan pushed back a few strands of her blue hair, "Oh."

Yahiko's features lit up as he finished cleaning the cut, putting away the now bloody cloth. He began to wrap her right lower leg in bandages. It hadn't had a shuriken lodged in it, but one did happen to slice the skin well on the way over to her left leg.

"So, Doctor... will I live?" she asked, attempting to break the strange mood in the air.

Yahiko laughed as he finished up the bandages, "Of course. Just get plenty of rest and don't get attacked by crazy any Genin that chase me."

Konan giggled, "How about me walking? Will I ever be able to do it again? Or perhaps my running days are over?"

"You'll be fine - might have some trouble in the next few days. As long as we constantly change the bandages in the next few days so that things don't get worse by infection, of course. I _think_ you'll be able to run again."

"Great."

Yahiko looked at the fire, suddenly jumping up in alarm, "Crap! The fish!"

Both teens looked over to the fire to see their meal of fish burnt to ashes. Yahiko frowned, reached into his pack and began to search through it. He produced two small paper bags, throwing one to Konan. She look at him with a confused expression as she opened her bag.

"Sandwiches?"

Yahiko nodded, "I was saving them, but I suppose they'll work for tonight."

Konan smiled lightly as she ate, looking around them. There was no city, no rain, and no smell of rust. It was an entirely new world, one that seemed extremely inviting and full of great opportunities. It was just a matter of time until one presented itself to her.

.,,

The loud bangs of explosions in the air woke Yahiko up. He sprung up, out of his sleeping roll by the sound of the familiar noise he knew so well.

"Konan!" he shouted, feeling an intense heat suddenly overwhelm the area he was in. Whoever was setting off the explosions was getting closer, the raging fire they were producing also doing the same.

Konan's eyes opened slowly. It was obvious she wasn't as quick at getting up as Yahiko was, but once the smell of burning (too much to be their camp fire) and the loud bang of a nearby explosion rang out, she hopped to her feet and began to follow Yahiko's lead, packing everything they had up.

"It's an attack on the town we were in yesterday I think," Yahiko managed to yell over the noise. He saw Konan cringe as she attempted to stand up, "You're not going to be able to run."

"That's obvious right now," she growled in a mixture of pain and sleepiness.

Yahiko wiped the sweat from his forehead, the smoke of the fire starting to fill his lungs. "Ever had a piggy back ride?"

She nodded, her view becoming hazy as the smoke became thicker.

Yahiko crouched down letting her hop on to his back. He took hold of her legs behind her knees and felt her wrap her arms around his shoulders. Craning his neck to look back at her, he smiled weakly, "You good back there? I'm not hurting your legs at all, right?"

"It stings a little, but not a lot," Konan admitted.

Yahiko nodded in response, getting used to the sudden weight of Konan and both of their packs on his shoulders. She was light, but the smoke was becoming so thick that it was getting more difficult to breath. It made it seem like he needed to put more work into carrying her.

He began to sprint, aware of the girl on his back as he ran. Yahiko became strangely sensitive to all her actions. Like when she tightened her grip around his shoulders with her arms and around his waist with her legs. He did his best to remain calm, taming the strange feeling inside of him when she rested her head on the top of his shoulder. No, it wasn't strange - it was different - something he hadn't experienced before.

Yahiko carried Konan for a long while. He couldn't quite keep track of the time throughout their small trek away from the burning portion of the forest, but he figured it was around an hour or two.

Finally, when Yahiko's legs couldn't take it any longer, he stopped. It was in the middle of the woods, thick with tall pine trees and abundant shade. That factor did not help with the small drizzle of rain that was currently falling.

Konan slid off Yahiko's back, gracefully falling down all the way to the soft bed of pine needles that layered the forest floor, so that she didn't have to stand and cause her legs pain, possibly reopening wounds. Konan's blue hair was soaking wet, a bit messy in some places.

Yahiko collapsed down to his knees, breathing hard. He was alright - just tired and out of breath. He felt the cool raindrops slowly soak his own hair, moving down to his face, neck, and further down, cooling him off.

"You OK?" Konan asked after a moment of silence - except for Yahiko's heavy pants.

Yahiko nodded. "Yeah, I just feel like I won't be able to walk for a couple years," he joked. He went to wipe off a combination of sweat and rain from his forehead, and realized soot covered his face. He looked at Konan, her face completely clean. He figured that while she tucked her face into his shoulder, she was also covering it from oncoming debris and soot build up.

Yahiko wiped the remaining soot off his face and leaned back, his arms supporting him. "I think we're far enough away for now... but I'm afraid I don't know exactly where we are."

"Oh," was all Konan said. He couldn't figure out the strange expression she wore at that moment. She wasn't smiling, but she definitely wasn't frowning either. She pushed back a strand of hair that was in her face, breathing in the moist air. It was a strangely warm day, and the rain was welcome - it was just warm enough so that it didn't feel humid, but the rain didn't make one feel cold either.

"Rain has always made me feel safe in bad situations," Konan mumbled, "Kind of like being comforted by the sky."

Yahiko smiled lightly, looking up through a small hole in the in the branches of the pine trees. "I've never thought of it that way. I guess having it always raining in Amegakure spoiled it for me. Rain never seemed like anything special there."

The rain poured down on them heavily, causing Yahiko's bangs to fall in front of his face. Feeling them sticking to his forehead, he combed back his hair and slowly laid his back to the forest floor, in a lying down position. He still was noticeably breathing hard, his eyes closed as he felt each drop hit is face. Yahiko grinned at the dark, crying sky, "You know, I think it was my mom who got me liking the sun so much."

"I remember when I was really small, before my dad went off to fight, we would travel to the Fire Country and stay at this small stone cottage by the water. On sunny days - which was almost every day - we would go sailing on this old wooden boat. I loved it."

Yahiko noticed Konan looking at him, "What?"

"Nothing. I just sort of wish you were more like this. More open and optimistic about things."

"You've only known me for a couple days. How do you know I'm not like this normally?"

"I don't," she agreed, "But I do like when you act like this more. You seem like you care more."

Yahiko looked up at her and gave Konan an odd look. She moved next to him, leaning back on a nearby tree. Konan stared up at the cloudy sky above them.

"When you act more optimistic like this, you seem to care more about what is going on here. The war. I didn't really understand until recently, but this thing is tearing Amegakure apart."

"I care," he spoke softly, choosing his words carefully, "and hope more than anyone else that this war would end now. But it won't. And we can't do anything about it. It is up to someone who actually can make a difference to end this thing - that's not us. We're just kids. We're thieves."

A moment of silence, except for the constant rainfall, was present between the two teens.

"I guess we'll just have to wait then, for it to stop."

Yahiko nodded, but he was holding something in - and he knew Konan knew it. He was just thankful that she did not bring up the matter.

Silently, as if there was an unspoken agreement between the two, they both got up to their feet and began to walk - to find a suitable place to spend the night. Yahiko's legs were still aching, but at the slow pace they were currently traveling he wasn't going to complain. Konan, on the other hand, was walking well. The cuts on her legs were still not healed well enough to run or do any other physical activity, but with Yahiko have done all the running that morning they had managed to heal enough to walk.

The two teens didn't make it very far in the hours it took them to come upon an abandoned path on the edge of the woods. Yahiko could see that the area was rocky, and most likely included areas of high elevation.

"Yahiko!" Konan whispered in alarm. He followed her gaze. Through the rain, several yards ahead of them, began a trail of red. The falling water helped it collect into a stream, slowly heading their way. It was blood.

Konan hurried ahead to find the source, gritting her teeth as her legs stung with each step.

"Konan, are you stupid? Get back here!" Yahiko shouted, running after her.

He saw that she had stopped a bit up the road, now looking as if she wanted to step back from whatever was in front of her. As Yahiko grew closer he too froze. It was a body of a blonde haired boy. He couldn't have been much younger than himself.

"Yahiko... is he?"

"Dead? Yeah," he said coldly, "This is why we need to watch out for each other - a war doesn't care who's life it takes. Whether it is a murderer or an innocent kid, they die wrongly in war."

He stared at the face of the dead boy, its eyes reflecting his own. Konan must have noticed, as she carefully leaned down and used her index finger to gently close his eyelids. They then continued their walking, coming upon similar sights of war as they traveled through the small, broken village.

...

The memories of the villages they traveled through were ones that would always stay with Konan. Some were perfectly oblivious of the war going on, while others seemed to have been methodically slaughtered like the first she witnessed. She knew that with each growing day, and with each new body they found in their path, something in Yahiko grew. It was something that was eventually going to come out and take action. Konan could only wonder what it was.

After two full weeks of traveling with her new companion she was no closer to being able to read him or figuring him out than she was on day one. Yahiko had grown on her like a brother. He was protective, fierce, and as they became more comfortable with each other, outgoing. Yahiko wasn't afraid to speak his mind with her, but he always was kind. They would never admit it, but on some days they would feel as if the world around them had completely stopped, and as if the war would never end - that hoping was useless.

It was the small things that kept them both together, giving them the needed hope to keep on traveling throughout their small, war torn country. Like the conversations they shared about their pasts, and how they so wanted change in the future.

And then, sometime in the mix of all of this, they stumbled upon an abandoned cave, full of boxes of food and medical supplies. It was the strangest thing, and they both were skeptical of their luck. A step deeper into the cave revealed the truth, two bodies of fallen soldiers. Which side they were from was unrecognizable, but it did not matter to the two teens.

"I think we should stay here," Yahiko muttered later after the two teens had moved the bodies and discovered the abundance of food.

Konan gave him an odd look, "What do you mean? Make it our home?"

He nodded, "I'm sick of traveling. I'm sick of seeing people dead and dying. And I'm mostly sick of this damn rain!" His fists were clenched and his voice was raised. He was on edge.

"Then we'll stay," she stated calmly, reaching out to calm Yahiko.

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><p>Reviews appreciated... hope you enjoyed this big chapter.<p> 


	6. Fire in the Streets Now

Note from author:

I would first like to note that I do not own Naruto. There we go...Disclaimer finished.

I hope you enjoy reading. Reviews are extremely appreciated. Really appreciate. Just give me a damn review and I'll be happy.

**PART II**

**CHAPTER 5 - Fire in the Streets Now**

Note from the author for this chapter: As you may have noticed we are very close to the point where Nagato comes in. In this next chapter I'm basically tracing the lines already made by the manga and show, but then coloring in a bit on the things that I feel could use a bit more detail and develop the characters more. So without further ado, Part II!

Going to do some quick revising of the last few chapters, just to bring out more detail and to improve my writing.

Also, I'd appreciate it if you'd check out my first oneshot, One Flight Down. It's Pein/Konan, and is just exploring some corners of my imagination.

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><p><em>If you see anyone or anything, run back here and don't look back.<em>

Those were the words Yahiko told Konan before she left their 'home' and took her evening walk. She carried a red parsol to keep her dry, something she stole from one of the nearby markets. Now she stood frozen in place, staring at the sight in front of her.

It was a boy, lying on the ground.

A vision of the blonde haired boy, dead on the ground, from weeks earlier passed through her mind. Yahiko's words echoed in her head again, but instead of running the other way to the cave, she took steps to the boy.

Konan's eyes widened when she saw he was breathing. He didn't seem to be wounded physically, so her immediate action was to take some of the bread out of her pocket and nudge the boy with it, hoping he would take it on his own.

He lifted his head slowly, and Konan smiled softly as he slowly moved to take the food, his red bangs never leaving their position in front of his eyes. A small stirring sound came from under the boy's arm, and he did not hesitate to feed the small creature - what seemed to be an extremely underweight dog - half of his food.

"Come with me," Konan told them both, almost without realizing it. Yahiko wouldn't be happy about this. He wouldn't be happy she had broken his rules, and that she was adding more mouths to feed. She also had a feeling that he would have a hard time trusting anyone else beside herself. With his past it was completely understandable, but she wasn't going to let this boy die because Yahiko couldn't trust others. She wouldn't leave him here, to be another victim of the war.

Konan helped the boy up, hiding the shocked expression on her face as she realized he was extremely light - so light that hunger was surely the cause of his weakness, labored breathing, and being so close to death.

A short walk later they arrived at the secluded cave, the wooden crates lining the walls.

"Yahiko, it is me!" she called.

Yahiko stood up from behind a box, a sharp looking stone in hand. "Thank goodness, Konan, I thought I heard more than one person... I was afraid of an attack."

His relaxed expression immediately changed into an annoyed one when he realized that Konan was not alone, "Who are those two?"

"I'm Nagato," the boy said quietly, shrinking down like a dog with its tail tucked between its legs when Yahiko noticed him, "The dog is Chibi."

Yahiko looked away from Nagato and to Konan, "Konan! We can't let them stay here - it's another mouth to feed! More people to look after!"

Konan looked at him softly, her loyalty and wanting to trust Yahiko's words tearing her apart, but the part of her that kept imagining that small, dead boy on the road interfered.

"If we don't help then we'll just be adding to this war. You said there was nothing we can do about this before -"

"And there isn't! We're not ninja - we're kids."

"If we help him then it will be a start. If we don't then we'll be as good as the people who killed our parents!"

Yahiko froze, seeming to take an invisible blow. Konan's words had taken their intended effect on him. He pointed at Nagato and gave the scrawny boy a careful look, "He can stay - the dog too. But I expect him to contribute to gathering supplies and food."

Konan smiled and sat down on a crate. Nagato followed her lead, taking a seat on a nearby one. He seemed nervous, and had every reason to be. Yahiko's presence in the room seemed to naturally be one of great importance and pressure. He didn't carry himself or act in any way that would lead you to believe he was more important than other people, but it was just the way Konan seemed to respect him and view him in such a light, that it reflected on to others. From what she could tell, Nagato was pretty timid and had no problem accepting Yahiko's act of leadership between the three of them.

"Do you know how to steal?"

Nagato seemed confused at the other boy's words, "Steal? Is that how you got all your food?" he motioned to the crates around him, some pried open to expose its contents.

"Of course. How the hell else? Do you think anyone in this country has enough money to actually buy a crate of bread these days?"

Nagato shook his head, his body suddenly shrinking down, "No. I've never stolen anything before though."

Yahiko shrugged as if explaining stealing was a regular thing, "If you intend to stay with us you need to get your food somehow. I don't care if you find it or steal it. If there is one thing we've learned, it is that words don't get you anywhere in this world."

Nagato nodded quickly, understanding what was expected of him. Konan smiled softly at the boy, "Don't worry, you'll do fine. Yahiko had to teach me at first."

She got out a piece of paper from her pack and began to fold it. Konan listened to Yahiko and the new boy, Nagato, talk.

"How long have you been on your own?" Yahiko's voice questioned.

"I was alone for a few days before I found Chibi. We've been traveling for a little less than a week together."

"Are you from Amegakure?"

"From one of the outer villages."

"Konan and I are from Amegakure. We traveled for two weeks before ending up here. How did you manage to survive alone? Without getting attacked, too?"

From the corner of her eye Konan saw Nagato shrug. "I don't know. I guess I had good luck."

"Some luck. I've been hearing of attacks around Amegakure for the majority of the time I've stayed here," Yahiko replied, yawning. "We should get to sleep. Tomorrow we'll go to town for some shopping."

"That is his way of saying stealing," Konan supplied to a confused looking Nagato.

"Nagato, you can have my sleeping roll for tonight," he offered, pointing to what looked like a thick blanket rolled up on top of a crate by the wall. Nagato quickly, as if ordered to do so, walked over and immediately took the sleeping roll, thanking Yahiko. Yahiko shrugged and told him he could sleep wherever he wished in the cave, but didn't recommend anywhere near the entrances.

"I'll be right back,"Konan told Nagato, and followed Yahiko. She hoped that he hadn't already taken off running, so she could catch him and speak to him.

She found the fire haired boy outside the cave, sitting on the ground in front of one of the many large rocks in the area. Silently, she walked towards him.

"Are you mad that I took him in?" Konan whispered, taking a seat next to her friend.

Yahiko quickly shook his head, "No. You did the right thing."

She stared at the damp, desolate land in front of her. They had been living in the cave for about two weeks - making it just under four weeks that Yahiko and her had left Amegakure and gone on the run. Throughout that time they had been able to establish about how far away from Amegakure they were (by listening to travelers in the nearby markets), the nearest villages (as well as the best to raid for supplies), and that their cave was well enough off the beaten path that any regular person wouldn't come across it. Their fears of shinobi coming and finding their new home were present, but they realized that the area they were in was very poor and the land was in bad condition. There wasn't any reason for soldier to even want to claim or use the land around them.

"When I saw him - I saw that boy. You know, the one that was dead when we were traveling..."

"There were a lot of dead boys that we saw traveling. But yes, I know which one - the one with blonde hair."

Konan nodded, "I kept thinking, of what you told me, to run away, but I couldn't."

Yahiko leaned back, his back now resting on the hard rock, "We can't pick up every dying boy we see. I mean, we need to take care of ourselves. I'm also concerned about being able to trust him."

"I think of it like this: he's alone because of this war and so are we. We can trust him because we are the same."

It was true. If there was one thing they all knew it was the cruel truth of the war, and that they were all orphans because of it. They all had gone through similar events in their lives, their trust being tested and broken. If they couldn't trust each other, who could they trust? It wasn't like they were going to betray each other after a while. What they needed more than anything was someone to simply hold onto and be there for them.

Yahiko nodded, placing a hand on Konan's shoulder and squeezing it softly. He got up and began to walk away. She knew where he was going and made no move to follow him. Before he got too far she heard Yahiko speak, his voice sounding as if he was smiling, "You're right, Konan. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

She smiled to herself before getting up and returning to the cave. She knew well that Yahiko would return sometime later that night while both her and Nagato slept. He enjoyed his nightly walks, which, no matter how many times she had offered in the past to join him, were strictly independent.

Konan trusted Yahiko and respected his privacy though. She was loyal to him to every extent because he was her family, and they had no one else to trust in the war torn world they lived in. Konan sensed that she found the boy, Nagato lying in front of her for a reason. The reason at this point was unknown, but because her decision and pleading saved a life, there would be time in the future to figure it out.

...

Nagato wasn't in any condition to travel - even to the nearby villages. His fragile existence and weak body was immediately apparent to Konan and Yahiko when they began their short journey. Konan seemed to be a bit nervous having him along, and gave Yahiko several looks as if to ask 'are you sure he is in traveling condition?' to which Yahiko rolled his eyes and spoke out loud, "He'll be fine Konan."

He would survive the trip, yes, but it seemed to be almost painful to watch the scrawny boy be in such bad condition that he was _following_ an even thinner dog.

"Nagato, how old are you?" Yahiko asked. It was a good question - Konan had been wondering it since she had first seen him, and it was hard to determine if he was actually as young as she thought he was, or if it was just him being very malnourished.

"Thirteen," he answered.

"Same here! Konan is too," Yahiko grinned, "You're pretty small for thirteen, but don't worry - we can fix that."

"Yahiko - we're getting close to the village," Konan observed, motioning to a few villagers passing by.

Yahiko nodded, turning to face the newest member of the group, "Nagato, when we get there we're going to go straight to the supplies stands to get things for you. After that we'll worry about food."

"We're going to be triple teaming them... or quadruple if Chibi wants to help," Konan added with a giggle.

The village was a small one, but the market in which it was supported on was in good shape. It wasn't crowded, which would have been the preferred condition, but the upside was that they had 3 different people to pull off more schemes.

The first stand they decided to hit was the one which sold sleeping rolls and other camping goods (which were hard to come by). Yahiko first ran up to the stand, grabbing a small bottle of oil, and took off. The merchant who ran the stand expectantly ran off after him, paving the way for Konan and Nagato to come in and take was they pleased.

After raiding a few more supplies stands in a similar fashion (and then hiding the supplies away from the market), they moved onto where the food was being sold. Konan explained to Nagato that the food was usually harder to steal, as you needed to take a lot of it, and you needed to make sure you choose the good stuff, not the week-old stale or moldy food. That was the stuff that they usually tried to sell in the war.

Yahiko, already feeling pretty good about his ability to easily out run any merchant, volunteered to be the one who actually stole the food. He explained that he would easily identify the food in good condition, and if anyone noticed him stealing he could run. Konan, Nagato, and Chibi would all act as a team to distract the merchant of whichever stand they were robbing. They weren't as fast as Yahiko, but they did have the upper hand in the game with 3 different people.

"That one," Yahiko said, pointing to a meath stand, "I haven't eaten meat in months, and I think Nagato could use a little."

Konan agreed quickly, meat sounding good. She really hadn't ever eaten it much. Her family was very poor, and with the war meat prices were as high as they could ever be in Amegakure.

Nagato glanced cautiously at the large, muscular butcher behind the stand, "How do we get past him? He seems pretty intimidating."

Yahinko grinned, "Don't worry about him. He's only got his looks going for him."

Before Konan could question his words, he had left his position next to them and was casually strolling over to the stand next to the meat.

"That's the kid!" Konan heard from somewhere down the street, "He's been stealing!"

Yahiko seemed to panic for a split second, not close enough to the meat stand to grab a steak, and definitely not ready to dash around the butcher who was advancing his way. He took a few steps back, but then ran into something hard - another merchant, and a pretty pissed off one at that.

Konan motioned for Nagato to follow her to the meat stand, her eyes on a large steak. However, they too were soon trapped between several angry merchants. Moments later Konan, Yahiko, and Nagato all found themselves roughly thrown on the outskirts of town.

It wasn't until the merchants who brought them there were out of sight that Yahiko finally spoke, "Damn. Good thing we've been keeping all the stolen stuff out here," he mumbled, getting up and brushing off the dirt that layered his clothes.

"Too bad we didn't get that steak, it looked good," Konan sighed, getting up and looking around. She had placed a small paper dog on top of a rock near where they had hidden their stolen goods.

"Chibi!" Nagato suddenly exclaimed.

Yahiko and Konan looked to see Chibi running their way - with a steak in his mouth. Yahiko's frown turned into a wild grin, "Chibi! Good boy!"

They would have steak that night, and both Yahiko and Konan would truly feel as if Nagato and Chibi had joined their small family.


	7. Tearing You Apart

_Note from author:_

**I would first like to note that I do not own Naruto. There we go...Disclaimer finished**.

Next, I'd like to say I'm sooooooooooo sorry for the long period between this chapter and the last. This is a bit of a filler chapter, but hopefully the quality makes up for it. I am going over most of the chapters to heighten the quality a bit more.

Reviews are appreciated a ton! They remind me to update sooner. I am sorry I haven't replied to most of the recent ones. I have been a bit busy and am working to get to them.

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 7 - Tearing You Apart<strong>

Konan held Chibi close as she sat on a crate outside their cave. The three orphans had been living together in the safety and comfort of their secret cave for several months now. Nagato had gone with Yahiko to go shopping hours ago, and she was anticipating their return at any moment. She traced her fingers through the small dog's hair, marveling at how much weight he had gained in the little time she had known him. Chibi may have been a dog, but he was as highly regarded and cared for in their family as each of them.

"Konan!" she suddenly heard Yahiko's voice shout. His unmistakable figure ran closer and closer to her, Nagato in tow. She stood up, letting Chibi slide off her lap, and immediately and began to run toward the two boys.

"Yahiko, Nagato! Are you OK?"

"Ninja! They're battling around here," Yahiko panted as both he and Nagato reached Konan. They both were very sweaty as if they had been sprinting for a long period of time.

"What? Why here?"

Yahiko angrily clenched his left fist and drug a sweaty hand right hand through his hair, "We knew this would happen... we were coming back from the village and we saw them fighting." His voice was urgent and aggravated, causing both Konan and Chibi to feel similar emotions.

Nagato, the always alert boy, suddenly pointed to the horizon, "Look!"

Clouds of smoke appeared, scattered in the distance, and as they watched it became apparent that they were getting closer. Konan heard several quick snaps, and suddenly the world around her exploded into a blast of fire. It was a ridiculously familiar feeling for her - something she felt that could have been avoided because of it being such a reoccurring event... but Konan still didn't understand exactly what _it_ was. For several minutes she found her mind flipping through the events of the past few weeks, starting with the first explosion in the village. Konan found herself feeling as if she was watching some sort of movie. The images in her mind were vivid and real - from the point where she was alone in Amegakure, to when her mind was in a full panic holding onto Yahiko as they made their way through the smoldering fire outside of the distant village. Suddenly, her graphic movie ended.

She saw Yahiko above her, a blurry object, but still recognizable due to his distinct hair color.

"Konan! Nagato!"

The girl's vision cleared, and she began to realize the events that had taken place. They were an eerie repeat of ones she had experienced before, and her heart began to sink when she became aware of the possible danger of the exploding tag. She sat up, her body sore but manageable. Yahiko sat at her right, a worried look on his face.

"Is everyone alright?" she asked quickly as she disregarded her own status.

Yahiko nodded, "Just a little sore. We were worried about you! You didn't wake up for a while!"

"I'm fine now - like you, just sore."

Nagato appeared behind Yahiko, an expression that was between confused and worried on his face. Apparently the boy wasn't used to this aspect of the war. "What happened?"

"Exploding tags," Yahiko answered, his voice grim. Exploding tags at this point were by far both Yahiko and Konan's least favorite ninja weapon they had encountered.

"Where is Chibi?" Konan asked as she got to her feet and looked around. The explosion had caused a massive hole to appear in the ground, many of the large pieces of rock that were there previously were now scattered among the area the three young teens landed in. It was a miracle that none had hit them.

Nagato was the one to find Chibi. It didn't surprise Konan - the boy seemed to have a special connection with the stray. Unfortunately, the verdict written by Nagato's own face was of horrible panic. The dog's coat was somewhat coated in his own blood - it seemed that he was thrown into a large boulder further away from the source of the explosion. Yahiko guessed that it was because he was lighter than the three of them.

"He's dead," Yahiko said softly when he first saw the state the dog was in. Nagato hugged the animal to his chest, his face buried in the dog's fur to muffle his shaken cries. Konan sat down by him, placing a soft hand around his shoulder and looking up at Yahiko. The orange haired boy stared, realizing suddenly that he had lost yet another member of his small, fragile family.

It was the whistle of a kunai slicing through air that broke the tree teens out of their mourning state. It landed inches from Yahiko's foot, setting a sudden alarm between the group.

"Hurry!" he yelled, pulling both Nagato and Konan up from where they sat and into a sprint. He purposely began to lag behind them, wanting to be sure they didn't fall behind him as they ran. Yahiko would pull them up, shield them, or do anything, he promised himself as he forced his legs to carry his aching body each step. The group collectively had to come to a halt as they neared a ledge, their eyes setting on the sight of an active war scene below them. Yahiko had told stories to both Konan and Nagato about the thrills and horrors of war. This however, was something all of them were immediately captivated by.

The battle was brutal, fast paced, and something they would believe to be fictional. Although it only included 4 people and a giant creature, the battle was no doubt between ordinary people. These were ninja.

The three watched in awe as the battling ninja moved at the speed of light, performing such actions that could possibly defeat an entire army of civilians.

"Ninjas!" Yahiko gasped, "Look at them! That one - the one on the salamander - he's Hanzo."

"Hanzo?" Nagato questioned quietly as if the ninja fighting may hear them.

"The one who is putting Amegakure in this war!" Yahiko growled loudly, causing Nagato to flinch nervously.

The three ninja who seemed to be fighting against Hanzo suddenly came together, seeming to be on the verge of collapsing. There apparently were words being exchanged between the two fighting parties.

Konan noticed Yahiko getting up, "Should we get back?"

The orange haired boy had no words to say. He instead answering her with a simple nod. Yahiko seemed to be in deep thought. Konan nudge Nagato, who still seemed to be shaken by the loss of Chibi.

"Don't worry, Nagato. Tomorrow we'll come back when it is safer and make him a memorial," she said with a light smile. She also felt a great deal of pain with the dog's loss. He had helped bring together their family, and he would never be forgotten.

Yahiko's silent behavior continued throughout the evening. He had his moments when it came to being silent and needing to think, but with the loss of Chibi his reaction was almost startling. Konan had expected more emotion, more comforting Nagato, and more being the loud, intense boy she knew he actually was inside. Instead he was stone cold, almost not caring.

The truth was that Yahiko was about to let go of something that had been building up since he was very young. He was about to release the feeling, the thoughts, and the pain that swelled inside of him whenever he encountered war. What thoughts Konan had been considerate to not ask him about was about to become very powerful words and actions. Ones he wanted to carry out.

"I miss Chibi too," he suddenly said. The three teens were in the open area of the cave, a fire sitting in front of them. His words were the first spoken since they had returned from the attack, all in an understandably bitter and morose mood.

"I miss a lot of people," he continued. Konan could imagine he was thinking about his mother and his father. "This war - it isn't fair. I've been thinking for a long time that we can't do a thing to change it. I can't believe it has taken so many deaths for me to realize it, but maybe we can do something!"

"How? You said it yourself we are just kids," Konan muttered, the pessimistic part of her mood taking over as she glanced over at Nagato.

Yahiko gave her and Nagato a light smile, "Yeah, we are. But those ninja out there are not. They survived fighting with Hanzo! They are really powerful! And to win this war we need more than words - we need power."

"Power?" Nagato murmured.

"Power to end this war. Power that comes in actions. If we convince them to teach us ninjutsu, I _know_ we can make a difference for everyone in this nation. We'll end wars for good - no one should have to live through this hell," Yahiko growled, not intentionally meaning to intimidate Nagato as much as his raised voice.

Konan noticed his nervousness and attempted to calm the tension by speaking, "I agree with Yahiko. If we do this then we'll be able to defend ourselves and not have to worry about losing each other like we did with Chibi today."

"Do you know which way they are going?" Nagato wondered, "Maybe we can find them without having to encounter them in a battlefield."

Yahiko nodded, feeling good that his passionate words were being embraced by his two friends. "I have a good idea of it."

"We're really gonna do this, right?" Konan asked after a moment of silence, feeling a great wave of anticipation washing over her. The two boys at her side nodded, seeming to radiate the same feeling.

"We'll start traveling tomorrow."

...

Before they began their journey the three teens awoke early to finish one last important task.

Chibi's body was where they had last seen it, by where it seemed that the ground had suddenly exploded. That description was unfortunately very accurate. Nagato was the one who handled the body, carefully setting it on one of Yahiko's shirts and folding the shirt around the body in hopes it was enough of a respectful casket.

Yahiko then led them to where two large rocks sat, one with a split down the middle, causing an opening just big enough for a small dog. Chibi's body was lowered down and into the opening, and Yahiko and Konan then placed a large stone to close the opening. All three teens then stood up quietly, and Konan placed a small paper dog on the top of one of the two rocks.

"Thank you, Chibi," Nagato murmured as they began to walk away, their long, hard, and exhausting journey beginning.

...

The first day was one of the hardest. They had all traveled before in the horrible war conditions when they went to the villages to steal things, but never before had they actually traveled and camped in the battlefield. The day was full of new sights and familiar sounds. Entire chunks of the forest and the ground were sometimes missing, causing the need for huge detours around the craters. It was obvious there wasn't fighting in the area they were in anymore, but it was now a grave to those who died on it - the distant clouds of dust a reminder of would often find themselves taking each step in the rhythm of the constant and distant explosions, eventually setting into a silent, eerie trance. A kunai zipping through the air, narrowly missing one of them would break it - setting the three teens into a state of alertness and fear.

The entire idea of sleeping at night was impossible for Konan. She knew Yahiko was switching up a night watch with Nagato, but it didn't comfort her. Explosions rang and screams could be heard on and off the night - she was just afraid that she would wake up to the screams of her companions, or that the explosions would suddenly start coming too close.

The second day was better, but they were horribly sleep deprived. It did not get better when Yahiko announced that they would be going deeper into the battlefields, and therefore needed to figure out where to get masks that would allow them to breath through the poisoned air.

It was a surprising but disturbing find when they managed to run across a team of ninja wearing them. The ninja were dead - from reasons unknown to Konan. She didn't relatively want to know - it was enough that they were taking things now from the dead. Stooping to a new low as petty thieves. Konan did not bring up this thought to Yahiko or Nagato. She trusted their judgement over anything, and held them in the highest regards. Complaining, after all, would do nothing but waste time and possibly put them in danger for staying in one place too long to finish a heated conversation.

Eventually they had to stop earlier than anticipated, the exhaustion setting in and in the end it caused Yahiko to pass out. Nagato and Konan gladly shared different shifts to keep watch. On one occasion when she woke during Nagato's shift, she noticed he was leaning against a nearby tree, his eyes closed and in a deep sleep. She smiled, brought over his sleeping roll to him, and laid it over his body. Konan then stayed watch until morning.

On the third day of their journey Yahiko optimistically announced that there was something to be happy for - it was around his birthday and he had managed to make it to 14 years old. He vowed to both Konan and Nagato that once they got the chance, they would celebrate for all their birthdays and each and every day they managed to live through the war. The thoughts of delicious sweets, rationed in times like these, lingered in their minds the whole day.

"My birthday is in the fall, but I suppose it works," Nagato smiled softly.

"When is your birthday Konan?" Yahiko asked. He seemed to be in a great mood with a good night's sleep behind him.

"I'm really not sure. We never celebrated it in my family."

Yahiko's smile seemed to only get bigger, "You can share mine! We'll both be turning 14."

Konan was about to reply when suddenly a shadow passed to her right. Both of the boys seemed to notice, but were already distracted by what seemed to be an extremely fast object, bounding from tree to tree. Suddenly there was another, and soon it felt as if a sea of shadows were passing through the forest at their right, a huge man-made cliff at the left.

"Oh crap!" Yahiko yelled as there was a sudden snap, the usual indication for an exploding tag. By now they knew what it meant, and that the very loud strike seemed to be an indication that it was very accurate to its mark. The three teens braced themselves.

The impact of the explosion never came.

A strange feeling, as if one was being held in water for a split second, overwhelmed them as the noise and graphic scene of the explosion burst before them. Konan didn't have time to think about the fact that the three of them were not at all being harmed by this deadly assault when the ground beneath her feet began to completely give out. She experienced a sudden falling sensation - realizing that she was indeed falling from the cliff they were walking on just moments before. Then Konan's vision went black.

It was just moments later she felt light headed but not at all wounded from what was surely a deadly drop from a cliff. It amazed her that she had absolutely no injuries whatsoever. Konan got up, Nagato in the same state she was in - seeming to look a bit winded, but without a bruse or a cut. There was something different about Nagato in this small period of time. His red hair was out of his face, exposing his eyes - she had never seen his eyes or entire face before. They weren't normal - they were ringed, layer within layer of deep and intense focus that she had never seen before. She had never expected the shy Nagato she knew to have such intimidating looking eyes.

Before she could process this strange phenomenon Konan felt a hand assisting her to her feet. It was Yahiko, his own blue eyes holding a hopeful and proud shine as he spoke, "We found them, the Leaf ninja."

Confronting the three Leaf ninja was not something Yahiko had thought through. He didn't know if they were the type to kill on sight - regardless if their opponent was a helpless child. Their prior experience with ninja did not help at all, as it was either being chased by them or being attacked by them. All natural instinct at this point signaled to get away from the area and into a safe place.

Yahiko wasn't running on his instincts anymore. A year ago he would have only followed them, not giving a crap about what anyone suggested or told him. This was different - he had a family that he cared for and acted as his own conscience - he had to think about more than himself now.

The three teens slowly approached the area, studying the Leaf ninja in just a quick glimpse.

There were three,as they had noticed in their previous encounter. One had slick black hair and pale skin - even for the sunless weather of Amegakure. His eyes were narrow and deep yellowish, reminding Yahiko of a cat's eyes. The features of this man added together closely resembled a snake though.

The second ninja was a tough looking woman with blonde hair and a notably large chest area. She was surprisingly attractive, something Yahiko never thought of ninja - they had always seemed to be a blank, cruel face and personality in his perspective, but this woman was beginning to change his opinion just with her looks.

The last ninja, and the most strange looking of the three was a man with long, shaggy white hair in a long pony tail. Although the color of his hair seemed to signal that he was old, Yahiko saw that the man was in his prime, and most likely around the same age as the woman with him. He had red marks trailing his eyes as if they were tears, interesting the red haired boy greatly, as he had never seen anything like them before. The man had a strong, muscular build, and eyes which portrayed a little emotion. His face seemed to be warm and welcoming.

As they began to walk toward the three ninja nervously, Yahiko felt something tap his shoulder. He turned around, his eyes wide as he took in the white haired ninja towering over them.

"Where are you kids going?"

There was a momentary pause as Konan and Nagato tensed up, glancing at the two other ninja surrounding them. Nagato seemed to be extremely shaken, his gaze fixed on the Leaf symbol on the pale one's forehead protector.

"They could be enemies. We should start some interrogation," the snake-like one, at their left hissed.

"No!" Yahiko yelled immediately.

The woman crossed her arms, studying the teens. "Orochimaru, they're kids - war orphans by the looks of it."

Konan took a deep breath before moving forward, Yahiko grabbing her by the shoulder nervously, "Konan!"

She shrugged it off silently, walking over to the blonde haired female ninja. She cupped her hands together, presenting a paper flower. The ninja carefully took it, as if it could have been some sort of secret weapon. "What _are_ you doing here?" She asked, "This is no place for kids - it is war."

"We want you to teach us ninjutsu," Yahiko told them. It wasn't a request - it was coming from Yahiko - it was more like an order.

The snake man smirked at Yahiko's request, "Should I just kill them now? It would be better for them than growing up in this war."

Nagato shrunk down, his fear apparent to everyone who noticed. Yahiko gave the man a fierce and defensive look. He wouldn't allow them to kill his only family - they came too far for that.

"Orochimaru! That is enough of that!" The white haired man growled. He looked at Yahiko, Nagato, and then Konan, "I will teach you ninjutsu."

"What? Jiraiya! We're fighting a war, not giving out lessons!" the woman exclaimed.

"Tsunade," he began, smiling, "this is something beyond the war. You will be fine with Orochimaru."

The three teens did not believe that there could be a ninja - or person - so kind and unselfish. He was actually agreeing to teach them ninjutsu without a second glance. It was unlike something that had ever experienced before. It was a new beginning to life.


End file.
